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Portland Timbers

Next: The Timbers travel to Charleston, S.C., for a third-round U.S. Open Cup match Wednesday against the Battery. Kickoff is 4:30 p.m. PT. Portland reached the fourth round last year before being eliminated by the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer.

Notes: The Timbers (5-6-5, 20 points) will stay in Charleston and play the Battery (6-6-4, 22) at 4 p.m. PT Friday in a league match. It will be the Battery's fourth game in seven days. … Charleston scored an impressive 2-1 win Saturday at Rochester, although the second goal came after the referee missed an offsides. Then the Battery lost 1-0 to last-place Toronto on Sunday. … Portland will be at Atlanta (6-4-3, 21) for a 4:30 p.m. PDT Saturday league game against the Silverbacks. After that, Portland will play seven of its 10 remaining league matches at home. … Saturday's home win over Coventry City should give the Timbers a boost. 'It means a lot to the players,' coach Chris Agnello says of the 4-3 victory on penalty kicks after a 1-1 regulation. Last year, the Timbers went into a July exhibition against another English club, Sunderland, having gone 0-4-1 in their previous matches. After tying Sunderland 0-0, Portland finished the league season 5-4-2. … Portland needs to get healthy, though. Encouraging signs versus Coventry: Forward Mamba Chisoni returned and showed that he could provide a needed spark up front, new acquisition Jaime Ambriz also looked good at forward, and veteran Byron Alvarez looked fresh and eager to contribute. And Jacobi Goodfellow (cracked rib), who had been starting on defense, could be back soon. … Agnello says goalkeeper Josh Saunders, on loan from the L.A. Galaxy, probably will finish the season with Portland. Goalie Kevin Hartman has returned from injury and posted three straight shutouts for the previously struggling Major League Soccer team.